The Grumpy Peacemaker
This is the tenth anniversary of Yitzhak Rabin's assassination.
He spent 27 years in the Israeli army, eventually becoming its Chief of Staff. He also served as Minister of Labor, Ambassador to the United States, and Prime Minister twice.
He's the one who authorized the raid on Entebbe Airport on (I had forgotten this) America's 200th birthday. He's also the one who signed an accord with Yasser Arafat during the Clinton administration, and later negotiated a peace treaty with Jordan.
Some traditional Jews thought that Rabin's efforts toward peace, which involved the establishment of Palestinian autonomy in certain territories as a first step toward establishing a Palestinian state, endangered Jewish lives, and that therefore Rabin was a criminal according to Torah law.
Talmud describes a certain sort of person called a "rodef", or pursuer, in the volume called Sanhedrin, Chapter 8; someone running after another to kill him. It is a Jewish duty to prevent the rodef from doing this, even if it means killing the rodef himself. What's more, if one causes damage or even kills an innocent bystander while going after the rodef, one is not liable for that damage.
As I say, because Rabin's efforts toward peace could have endangered Jewish lives, some rabbis said that he was a rodef, as though he were actually pursuing certain parts of the Israeli population with the intent to commit murder. I don't know that any rabbi came right out and said Rabin should be killed, but some religious student named Yigal Amir took them seriously and assassinated him ten years ago today.
God knows whether the relationship between Israel and the Palestinians would have been better if Rabin had lived (I'm inclined to doubt it), but I'm still sorry he died, and I'm even more sorry that a Jew killed him.
I can't remember the Hebrew word for the characteristic that endeared him to Israelis; it refers to that look of distaste on his face as he shakes hands with Arafat. He doesn't like what he's doing, but he knows it's necessary and he's not pretending that it's anything more. Israelis, unlike Americans and many other peoples, prefer it when their politicians don't pretend to enjoy things they'd rather not do. It's a kind of rough-edged sincerity that Rabin had in spades.
Benshlomo says, We may never love the Palestinians, but one day we may be able to live with them in peace.
He spent 27 years in the Israeli army, eventually becoming its Chief of Staff. He also served as Minister of Labor, Ambassador to the United States, and Prime Minister twice.
He's the one who authorized the raid on Entebbe Airport on (I had forgotten this) America's 200th birthday. He's also the one who signed an accord with Yasser Arafat during the Clinton administration, and later negotiated a peace treaty with Jordan.Some traditional Jews thought that Rabin's efforts toward peace, which involved the establishment of Palestinian autonomy in certain territories as a first step toward establishing a Palestinian state, endangered Jewish lives, and that therefore Rabin was a criminal according to Torah law.
Talmud describes a certain sort of person called a "rodef", or pursuer, in the volume called Sanhedrin, Chapter 8; someone running after another to kill him. It is a Jewish duty to prevent the rodef from doing this, even if it means killing the rodef himself. What's more, if one causes damage or even kills an innocent bystander while going after the rodef, one is not liable for that damage.
As I say, because Rabin's efforts toward peace could have endangered Jewish lives, some rabbis said that he was a rodef, as though he were actually pursuing certain parts of the Israeli population with the intent to commit murder. I don't know that any rabbi came right out and said Rabin should be killed, but some religious student named Yigal Amir took them seriously and assassinated him ten years ago today.
God knows whether the relationship between Israel and the Palestinians would have been better if Rabin had lived (I'm inclined to doubt it), but I'm still sorry he died, and I'm even more sorry that a Jew killed him.
I can't remember the Hebrew word for the characteristic that endeared him to Israelis; it refers to that look of distaste on his face as he shakes hands with Arafat. He doesn't like what he's doing, but he knows it's necessary and he's not pretending that it's anything more. Israelis, unlike Americans and many other peoples, prefer it when their politicians don't pretend to enjoy things they'd rather not do. It's a kind of rough-edged sincerity that Rabin had in spades.
Benshlomo says, We may never love the Palestinians, but one day we may be able to live with them in peace.
posted by benshlomo at 1:11 PM
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